Developer contributions

Most visits to the Solent Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are made by people who live within 5.6 kilometres of them. Consequently, new homes built within that 5.6 kilometre zone are likely to lead to more people visiting the SPAs with a potential to have an impact on the birds. Legislation requires that measures must be implemented to mitigate that impact.

Housebuilders can provide mitigation themselves. They will need to satisfy the local planning authority and Natural England that their proposed measures will fully mitigate the impact of the development.

In most cases, it is more straightforward for a builder to make a developer contribution towards implementing the Bird Aware Solent Strategy. If you are planning a development and are considering meeting your mitigation requirements through the Bird Aware Strategy, but would like advice on how much developer contribution it would incur, please contact your local planning authority at your earliest convenience.

A developer contribution needs to be paid for every net additional dwelling. The Bird Aware Solent Strategy was endorsed in December 2017 and introduced a sliding scale of developer contributions based upon bedroom size. The contributions from 1st April 2023 are as follows:

• 1 bedroom property £443
• 2 bedroom property £639
• 3 bedroom property £834
• 4 bedroom property £980
• 5 bedroom property £1150
• Flat Rate £740

In some circumstances an application can be made without the number of bedrooms being known. In these cases, the ‘flat fee’ of £652 is charged per unit. If you believe this will apply to your application, you are encouraged to discuss this with your Local Planning Authority as early as possible.

These new charges came into effect from 1st April 2023 and will be updated each year in line with the Retail Price Index.

Some housing schemes, particularly those located close to a SPA boundary, may need to provide additional mitigation measures. The local planning authority, with advice from Natural England, will consider the mitigation requirements for such development proposals on a case-by-case basis.

Details of how to pay the developer contribution can be found on the local planning authority webpages which are listed at the bottom of this page.

A list of frequently asked questions related to the Solent Recreation Mitigation Partnership and Strategy is provided here.

Local planning authority webpages

• Chichester District Council (Opens in a new window)
• East Hampshire District Council (Opens in a new window)
• Eastleigh Borough Council (Opens in a new window)
• Fareham Borough Council (Opens in a new window)
• Gosport Borough Council (Opens in a new window)
• Havant Borough Council (Opens in a new window)
• Isle of Wight Council (Opens in a new window)
• New Forest District Council (Opens in a new window)
• New Forest National Park Authority (Opens in a new window)
• Portsmouth City Council (Opens in a new window)
• Southampton City Council (Opens in a new window)
• South Downs National Park Authority (Opens in a new window)
• Test Valley Borough Council (Opens in a new window)
• Winchester City Council (Opens in a new window)